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Folks, I made this mainly because of the rave reviews. Perhaps the reviewers all liked this as much as they say. After all, we all skip past recipes that don't strike our fancy. I cannot believe that this dish is a major winner at parties as several reviews stated. This is very labor intensive and we ended up throwing half in the garbage after several days in the refrigerator. Move on to something else.

Brilliant appetizer! The only change I made was to grill slices of homemade olive bread (from Carol Field's pane alla olive recipe) -- and although I was afraid that might be a bit much with all the flavors going on in this dish, it actually turned out to be perfect. My guests came close to swooning.

This is a wonderful new use for grape leaves (which I love). I quartered the goat cheese rounds and made smaller "bites". I also changed the dressing. I eliminated the mustard and balsamic and used instead an organic, Tuscan late-harvest Chianti vinegar (which has to be tasted to be believed!) to add a little more "sparkle". The tomatoes were a vine-ripened gift from a friend's garden -- yes, the friend was invited. I will definitely do this again. I like what happens to the grape leaves on the grill! I served this with grilled curry-honey game hens, cous-cous, Greek olives, and grilled zuchinni, red onion, asparagus, red & yellow peppers, and yellow squash. These disappeared fast! Unusual, fun and easy. The only hard part is getting the grape leaves out of the jar, but since I make dolmas often, I was ready for the frustration involved. WHY do they put grape leaves in jars with SHOULDERS? Sheeez.

This recipe could not have been any easier to make and was SUCH a crowd pleaser. I made it because I wanted something a little more unusual than my regular salad. Even the pickiest of eaters (ie- ones that would NEVER have eaten anything with grape leaves) loved it and had more than one serving. We will DEFINATELY make again. ALSO- rather than firing up the grill just for these, we "grilled" it on one of those skillet grills- it worked perfectly! i imagine it is easier to watch the "charring" as well. MUST MAKE these!

This was a big party hit. But I thought the tomato bed portion left room for improvement. Next time I plan to experiment with this part (ham, yellow tomatoes, roasted veggies, etc...). A great idea to blanch the leaves before grilling and watch the grilling time to avoid burning/scorching of the leaves. I also toasted the bread with olive oil and garlic (alla bruschetta style) for spreading the cheese and topping with the vegetables.
To prevent the sticking leaves, I oiled each leaf right after the blanching process.

Kaiya in Long Beach, CA sez:
Oooo! Okay...I have not tried the fresh leaves BUT! I tried FanciFood Premium Gourmet Brand Grape Leaves (distributed by Gourmet Award Foods in St. Augustine, FL. They are a little tight in the jar, but I was able to ease them out pretty easily...what helped me to prevent tearing was gently grabbing them at the top and twisting them slowly while draining the liquid into another container. I reserved the liquid, pouring it back into the jar for the unused leaves. Anyway, I used fresh *herbed* goat cheese instead of plain. When I turned my back to turn the chicken (the Moroccan Chicken recipe from this site) 1/2 of the grape leaves had disappeared. In other words, they were a HUGE success...I have been made to promise to make them again because 1/2 the people weren't able to sample them. They were great with couples too--("Honey! Taste this!) It's amazing that they were SO easy! What a crowd pleaser!!

Re blanching fresh leaves: I simply cook the leaves in boiling lighly salted water and then shock them in cold water. It just took a few seconds to soften them.
Re the type of leaves, I'd assume you can use any kind if they haven't been sprayed. It seems, however, like a good idea to look up info re the particular varietal you have.
If anyone could help me deal with the fact that my jarred leaves stick together and are hard to get apart, that would be great! I wonder what I'm doing wrong, this doesn't seem to be happening to everybody else.

I've been cooking with fresh grape leaves since I was a child as we had vines in our yard. My Aunt taught me to pick the 3rd leaf from the end. Those are young and tender, but also large enough to use. They must be washed and blanched before using. They can also be stored in plastic bags if you're not ready to use them right away.

When using fresh leaves, does it matter what kind of grape they are from? I love stuffed grape leaves, and have a large arbor in the backyard, but have never tried using my own! I'd appreciate any assistance from all you cooks who have done this.

This dish was so easy to make. It was a smash hit with my guests. Something differnt from your ordinary salads. I did not have any trouble with wrapping the goat cheese in the grape leaves as some of the other reviewers noted. I will definitly make this again.

We made it without the salad, just grilled leaves filled with cheese. Other variations: Feta instead of goat cheese, rosemary instead of thyme (out of thyme!), shorter 'marination' of the leaves. Basted with the oil on the (indoor) grill. It was fantastic!

I have not tried the recipe, but I have made other recipes with leaves from my backyard arbor. The key is to use young leaves. They should still look really moist and young, so I only make grapeleaves in the spring. They are really delicious, I encourage you to try it. No special preparation needed.

I have not tried this, but I wonder if anyone can tell me if it is possible to use fresh grape leaves. I have a grape arbor in my yard & it would be interesting to use them, but I don't know if they need special attention. Thanks!